The Making of a Believable Character
A character becomes memorable not when the writer tells us everything about them, but when we begin to sense the person behind the words and actions. Readers do not need a character to be perfect. In fact, perfection is often one of the quickest ways to make a character feel distant. We recognise people through their contradictions. Someone can be generous and selfish, brave and frightened, kind and capable of cruelty. A person may say they have forgiven someone while secretly hoping for an apology. They may want to leave home and still miss it every day. These contradictions are not problems for a writer to remove. They are often where the character begins to feel alive. Begin with Desire One of the simplest ways to understand a character is to ask what they want. It may be something large: freedom, success, revenge, love, recognition. It may also be something ordinary: a quiet life, a place of their own, their father's approval, another chance, or simply the opportu...